Rohland Emerich would make it just as baytastic as bay did, this man RUINED godzilla so much that the in on of the last japanese films the had the original kill the american Version is about 1 minute, i wouldnt let this guy anywhere near transformers.
George Lucas actually might have kept the movie on Cybertron, given his love of Green Screen, if he directed it at least the Fight scenes would be Three different shades of awesome and would have and even more epic score.

Oh boy. This is a very interesting concept, and one that I have coincidentally been working on myself.

Let it first be noted that I’m NOT saying that the following directors would automatically create their movies in the way that I describe. Maybe Emmerich would surprise us and not have massive scale destruction in his version. There’s no law that states J.J. Abrams would use excessive lens flare. There’s no rulebook that says Peter Jackson’s Transformers storyline would follow the exact same pattern of The Lord of the Rings. Could Spielberg give us the most memorable film? Who knows? Saying that Abram’s Transformers would be exactly like Star Trek just doesn’t make sense, but it allows for some easier guessing. Nothing says that they can’t break the mold of their past work, but using their past work as indications of future work makes it easier (and more fun) to imagine what their versions would be like. It’s like typecasting, but with directors. There is no real way to know exactly how a Transformers film from another director would have turned out. It's dependant on many other factors, such as the writers, cast, studio, VFX company, etc.. Some of the following choices are based on logical assumptions, whilst others are just pure guesses.

For the directors you've listed, this is what I've come up with:

Steven SpielbergOverall Feeling: The same fun and magic as Bay’s but they would probably be better made, and have that sense of Spielberg-ian magic. Overall, probably the best combination of science-fiction, action, humour, story, and robots. Spielberg would give his Transformers a very alien feel to them (a la E.T., Close Encounters of the Third King, War of the Worlds, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)might have his films concentrate heavily on the “war” aspect of things (a la Saving Private Ryan), and cut back and forth between scenes on Earth featuring the humans, and scenes of the Great War on Cybertron with the Transformers, with the first film culminating in the Transformers’ arrival to Earth. Due to Spielberg’s initial idea for a live-action Transformers film, the focus of the story would most likely be that of “a boy and his car”, resembling E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’s set-up to an extent. So, anyone who is sick of how Bay’s films are all about Bumblebee would be even more upset with Spielberg. Bay concentrates on ‘Bee a lot, but Spielberg would do it even more. But in a good way. His robot cast would be kept as small and modest as possible (Autobots: Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ironhide and Bumblebee, with Decepticons: Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave and a few of the disposable Seekers. For a sequel, if Spielberg decided to go less “spooky alien” (E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, War of the Worlds) and more “humourous alien” (a la Men in Black), the Autobots might still be involved as a secret government task force, but most likely in a different way. As opposed to the military/Autobot classified strike team (consisting of Black Hawks, trucks, spyders, soldiers and Autobots) of Bay’s films, Spielberg’s would probably be a lower profile clandestine government operation. Their base would be smaller, more secret and with multiple space bridges, rather than cargo planes for transportation. Characters dealing with loss of innocence or coming-of-age. Use of low height camera tracking shots of the Transformers would help sell the awe and wonder. Parent-child relationships, scenes with Sam and his parents, or Optimus becoming a father figure to Sam. Sam would either have divorced parents, an abusive father or no father, and he would find refuge in his new guardian, Bumblebee and his new father-figure, Optimus Prime.Visual Effects: Executed perfectly, and not wasted. The main (and probably only) vendor would be ILM. They would be as realistic as Bay’s, but would be more visible due to less intense action scenes.
*Probably the best overall mix of everything needed.

George LucasOverall Feeling: Very science fiction-y. His Transformers would involve lots of spacecraft flying everywhere, and Transformers piloting hovercrafts and speed-bike-things and have giant laser-shooting space fights. The Ark and the Nemesis would face off in an epic space battle, with hundreds of escape pods and flight vessels shooting at each other, deploying all manner of alien mechanisms and characters. If any director could create a Transformers film not based on Earth, Lucas could. Whether it’d be a 100% Transformers-centric movie, or have humans be another alien species along for the ride (a la Star Wars), Lucas would create the biggest alien aspect of all of the directorial contenders. Visual Effects: Amazing. The main (and probably only) vendor would be ILM.Transformer Design Possibilities: Anything and everything. Much like the varying droids and aliens in the Star Wars franchise, Lucas would feature not only humanoid designs, but small, scuttling insect-like robots, giant tromping six-legged behemoths and everything inbetween. The main weapons of choice would be laser-based.

JJ AbramsOverall Feeling: It would be a faithful, yet reinvented translation of a classic into the 21st century.Visual Effects: Executed perfectly. There would be lots of lens-flare, especially for those shiny-robots. Would rely on ILM for the majority of the visual effects. Transformer Design Possibilities: The robots would be very shiny, lots of opportunity for lens flare. Almost like an other-worldly shine (like the god’s armor in Clash of the Titans). The main weapons of choice would be laser-based.

Roland EmmerichOverall Feeling: Destruction. Destruction. More destruction. More of a disaster film. The Nemesis ship would hover over the WhiteHouse (or other national landmark) and completely obliterate it (a la Independence Day). Then entire fleets of Decepticon war ships would cover the globe. Megatron’s master plan would be to drill to the Earth’s core and inject his supply of dark energon into it, causing catastrophic events. Earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions would ensue (a la The Day After Tomorrow and 2012), ensuring that the fleshlings would be terminated. Hundreds of Decepticon protoforms would descend through the Earth’s atmosphere like a meteor shower, smashing into the ground all over the world; destroying buildings, monuments, etc., (a la 2012). The military would be featured quite a bit, but in a different way than Michael Bay’s “Military: F*** YEAH!” method. There’d be lots of tanks, helicopters, jets and stuff, but they’d simply be for show and/or destruction fodder. The unfortunate thing is that Emmerich probably wouldn’t treat the Transformers as actual characters, more just like giant set pieces (even worse than Bay). Visual Effects: Used a lot, but overall of good quality.

Peter JacksonOverall Feeling: Larger and on a grander scale. He would probably try to film it in New Zealand. A lot of it would not be filmed on location (due to extensive digital sets and miniature environments). The entire franchise would be linked by the specific goal of getting The Matrix (or whatever Macguffin) to Primus (or whatever destination) before Megatron found them. Optimus Prime might be portrayed as an elderly, Gandalf-like figure, with the younger characters (like Bumblebee, Wheelie, Cliffjumper, Huffer, etc.) with the aid of a few bigger, stronger ‘bots (Sideswipe, Prowl, Brawn, Jazz, Ratchet, etc.) taking the lead. Megatron would be a villain that was built up until the finale. For the first two acts (or two films, if you will), his lackies such as Starscream, the Seekers, the Constructicons, etc. would do his bidding, and then the final confrontation would involved Ganda-I mean, Optimus Prime taking on Megatron while the Autobots wage war against Megatron’s army of Orc-I mean, Decepticons. Visual Effects: Very good and used A LOT! The main (and most likely sole) vendor would be Weta Digital. Weta Workshop would work on the miniatures and designs, possible full-scale props and animatronics.
*Entire scenes would computer generated, and there would be miniatures of Cybertronian cities and Metroplex and stuff. The visual effects would be great, but lack the gritty realism of ILM’s. Action scenes would probably be limited to epic final battles, in which thousands of protoforms and aerialbots take each other on. There would be lots of giant robots referencing the Mumakil and the brontosaurs from his previous films, like Omega Supreme and other combiners. There would be a good chance of Insecticons due to Shelob and the chasm-creatures. (They would probably be disgusting to look at; rotting metal, dripping fluids, pinching mandibles. More naturalistic look to the robots. Sequences like the Forest battle would be filmed on a miniature set (rather than actually going to a forest to film it). Dozens of big sets would be miniatures (possible sets like the Hoover Dam, city streets, the Witwicky backyard, the Nemesis Ship interior and exterior, etc.). Even a big set like the Egyptian pillars and shacks in the shantytown would be a fantastically elaborate miniature...that would be blown up. Transformer Design Possibilities: There would be a lot of variety amongst the designs, even more than Bay’s. Good chance of having robo-beards and other facial hair designs.

James CameronOverall Feeling: More science fiction, less ‘fun’. Better quality. He’d manage to get in his hooks on environmentalism, and how the Decepticons have ravaged Cybertron to the brink in an attempt to control as much of the planet’s resources as possible. The Autobots would have to stand against the Decepticons who want to use Earth and it’s valuable resources such as oil, hydro-electric power, etc. in order to power themselves. The military would come off as a pseudo-evil corporation who want access to the Transformers weapon advancements. Visual Effects: Great quality. Used either sparingly, or over-the-top.
*More science-fiction, less military-focused. Sigourney Weaver would probably have portrayed Sam’s mother, and obviously been a more commanding than doting housewife (or possibly secret agent extraordinaire?). Sergeant Epps might’ve been replaced with a female character (strong militaristic woman), and Mikaela wouldn’t have been so much of a “wow look at how hot she is”-girl, and more of a “wow look at how strong and independent that woman is, cool”-girl. Mikaela and/or the new Mrs. Witwicky would’ve played a larger, more dominant role. Arcee would’ve been one of the main Autobots, probably second-in-command.Transformer Design Possibilities: He would truly make them aliens. Smooth edges and a very organic feel/look to them. Some resembling the mech-suits from Aliens and Avatar. The robot faces would basically be like a live-action representation of the Prime series; with flexible metal or liquid metal covering the harsh under-mechanisms of the robot underneath (similar to the robot designs in I, Robot). And his concept of “transforming” could probably resemble Beast Machines method of transforming, rather than the physical “this piece goes here”-technique that Bay uses.

Like I said, a lot of what I said is pure guessing, with no concrete evidence to back up why I chose what I did. So please don't get mad.

Quite frankly, I'd go see a Transformers movie no matter who directed it and what it was like.

However, on a somewhat separate note, I do believe that having Michael involved to some extent could be beneficial for an action movie; depending on what one was going for. If he was one of four producers/executive producers, then I think that his influence on the movie could be good. Not being the director and not having a large amount of creative control in the process might limit his negative influences. His eye for action, visual effects, penchant for doing things practically and connection with the military could prove most advantageous, again, depending on what kind of film you want to make. Just keep him on a leash, and he's right as rain. In my mind, the best Transformers film would be directed by Jon Favreau, and produced by Spielberg and Bay.

Rohland Emerich would make it just as baytastic as bay did, this man RUINED godzilla so much that the in on of the last japanese films the had the original kill the american Version is about 1 minute, i wouldnt let this guy anywhere near transformers.
George Lucas actually might have kept the movie on Cybertron, given his love of Green Screen, if he directed it at least the Fight scenes would be Three different shades of awesome and would have and even more epic score.

JJ Abrams might suit it well, too. But he should do The Dark Tower first...

James Cameron should get the epicness and action right, while Robert Zemeckis knows how to make an interesting movie that appeals to children and grownups alike, without feeling cheep or having low humor.

JJ Abrams knows how to tell a story right and keep the audience interested.

One would think. But I always see people talk as if it's otherwise. I just assume people are that stupid.

Click to expand...

So do I, friend, so do I.

Yes, it seems that a lot of the time people forget that Spielberg's influence in the Transformers films has been quite substantial (more so in the first film, and very little in RotF, for some reason). I like to think that if Spielberg directed the movies, his version would look rather similar to Bay's, albeit with obvious changes here and there (less military, less lame humour, but similar designs and whatnot). Spielberg felt that Bay was the perfect director for this franchise, and for many aspects, Bay is. But Spielberg needs to tighten his grip on Bay's leash. A controlled Bay with a supervising Steven would make for a pretty good Transformers movie, as proven by the first film.

I still believe Neill Blomkamp would be the best choice. The cgi in District 9 was eye-popping, and the mech suit was far more impressive than the Bay designs in my opinion, showing that he could do great things with the robo-carnage.

I still believe Neill Blomkamp would be the best choice. The cgi in District 9 was eye-popping, and the mech suit was far more impressive than the Bay designs in my opinion, showing that he could do great things with the robo-carnage.

Click to expand...

I'll stop you right there...Yea I agree that Neil would probably be the best replacement for Bay, but hell no. The mechsuit doesn't come close to the awesomeness of any robot design. Not nearly as sophisticated either...but then again, just my opinion

Who cares. Bay is the director and we can't change that. And I wouldn't if we could. Bay, Imo, Makes very good films when the scripts dont utterly suck. and the transformers films trilogy has been mostly successful.

George Lucas + Bay and with Steven Spielberg producing? WORST FILM EVAH.

Click to expand...

Fixed lol.

Has no one seen the new Indiana Jones (Lucas + Spielberg)
Star Wars Episodes 1-3 (Lucas)
And EVERYTHING Bay has made

In my opinion these are 3 guys who have no business in the movie business anymore. Lucas still has flashes of brilliance, but not enough to be anyone I'd ever pick to handle Transformers(maybe in the 80's during G1 but not now), Bay has always been terrible, and Spielberg has been given WAY too much credit for movies which at best rate average. but then my opinions tend to be very harsh when the future of Transformers are involved. I like to jump on the "this will ruin everything" bandwagon even when I'm proven wrong consistently lol.

I still believe Neill Blomkamp would be the best choice. The cgi in District 9 was eye-popping, and the mech suit was far more impressive than the Bay designs in my opinion, showing that he could do great things with the robo-carnage.

Click to expand...

Blomkamps' version of the film - which would most likely be very cool - is another story. I know it's just your opinion and everything, but comparing the mech-suit and the Transformers designs isn't really fair. They're two different ideas that are trying to accomplish two different tasks while having two distinct designs. Is Bumblebee a mech-suit? Nope. Is the mech-suit a transforming alien robot? Not really. It's like saying that GORT (from The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)) is a way better robot than the Bayformers Starscream. Two. Different. Things. I'm not saying that the mech-suit (or GORT) sucks or anything (quite the opposite), it's just not really logical to compare the two. But I will say that the mech-suit was pretty awesome anyway.

Who cares. Bay is the director and we can't change that. And I wouldn't if we could. Bay, Imo, Makes very good films when the scripts dont utterly suck. and the transformers films trilogy has been mostly successful.

Click to expand...

I agree. But it's fun to speculate. A good writer(s) + Bay's eye for action + a producer to keep an tight leash on Bay = a really kick-butt Transformers movie, in my opinion.